Existing gardens and botanical displays have several shortcomings with respect to diversity, mobility, and flexibility. First, they are limited in the diversity of botanical species which can be grown in close proximity to one another due to a variety of factors. Second, existing gardens and botanical displays are relatively immobile except for very small-scale operations. Third, existing gardens and botanical displays are often plagued with problems which are reflected in their lack of flexibility in adding or removing botanical species.
Numerous factors prevent the creation of a diverse garden or botanical display in which horticulturally diverse botanical species thrive in close physical proximity. These factors include soil and atmosphere temperature, soil pH, soil content, water, and sunlight. Natural conditions present in an environment generally do not allow for plants which grow in arid conditions to thrive in physical proximity to plants which grow in tropical conditions, thus preventing the growth of exotic plants from such different environments in close proximity. For example, natural growing environments do not allow for the growth of most species of cactus in proximity to most species of fern.
Existing techniques to broaden or enhance the diversity of plants growing in gardens include growing individual plant species in separate pots or similar containers, however this method does not provide for a continuous landscape effect, can be expensive, may not be aesthetically pleasing, and is generally wasteful of growing space. Thus, there is a need for an alternative means to broaden or enhance the range of botanical species growing in gardens.
Another major disadvantage of existing gardens is reflected in the permanence of the existing botanical species which are planted in a typical garden. It is impractical to move an existing garden to another location without irreparably harming the botanical species. Thus, if an individual desires to move a garden because of, for example, future construction on the site, the individual is forced to recreate the garden at the new site. Thus, there is a need to develop a system by which a botanical garden can be made mobile.
Another major disadvantage of existing gardens is reflected in the inflexibility of patterns and designs. Existing gardens are limited in that once a design has been achieved by planting botanical species, a large-scale design change is very difficult. If an individual decides to change a current garden design or arrangement by removing or adding a planted botanical species, the individual must dig up the botanical species to remove it from the garden. This presents a likely opportunity for the botanical to be damaged and can require extensive effort, depending upon the botanical species being removed. Thus, there is a need for a garden system whereby the redesign or rearrangement of the individual botanical species can be made with relative ease.
The present invention provides systems for growing environmentally diverse botanical species in close proximity, allowing each species to thrive by providing microenvironments tailored to such species. Thus, it is now possible to create a horticulturally diverse garden containing a plurality of differing microenvironments in limited space, which provide a means to grow and display exotic botanical species that do not naturally grow in close physical proximity.
The present invention also provides a means to construct highly mobile gardens which allows the gardens to be moved to other sites. In addition, the present invention provides for easy removal or addition of botanical species to the garden to allow for flexibility in changes of design or arrangement.